A timid economic recovery in the eurozone is still holding, a closely-watched survey showed on Thursday, but at a pace that promises only negligible growth for the year.
This latest data is likely to strengthen the views of those who hold that the European Central Bank will eventually take extra measures to inject cash into the single-currency zone.
"The eurozone economy continued to make steady progress in August, as the region looks to bounce back following the recent weaker-than-expected GDP (gross domestic product) readings for the currency union,'' said Rob Dobson, senior economist at the private Markit research group which published the data.
Markit's set of leading indicators -- the purchasing managers' index (PMI) -- turned in a figure of 52.8, above the 50-point signalling growth or downturn, but lower than a revised figure of 53.8 in July.
At that level however, the region remained on course "to register growth of only around 0.3 percent - 0.4 percent in the third quarter, a level that is unlikely to stimulate any real turnaround in the labor market,'' Dobson added.
Official data last week showed that eurozone growth ground to a standstill in the second quarter, with none of the bloc's three biggest economies -- Germany, France and Italy -- registering growth. --AFP